College Sports Information Directors of America

In the spirit of the CoSIDA Technology Committee's theme "Saving Time for You and Me," let's start the year with some great time saving tips. Here are my 14 tech tips that will save time for you, your colleagues, the media and fans. 1. FTP is for Me! Gone are the days of dropping off zip disks or getting e-mails with attachments returned because the file was too big. Our department's primary printer has an FTP site for our use. What a great move; time and money is saved by customer and company. In order to bid on our jobs, printers now must have FTP available. 2. Photo CD-ROMs Our camera shop gives us a complimentary CD-ROM with each roll of film. Now, instead of scanning photos, we access pictures from the CD-ROM. Not only are CD-ROMs a time-saver, they're also a great way to archive photographs. Say goodbye to those inconvenient negatives. 3. Website Basics Some SIDs can't update their websites. That's unacceptable is today's society. If you don't have access to updating the site, get it. Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Status quo and websites don't go hand-in-hand. Expect to upgrade the graphic look annually. 4. Make Your Website SID Friendly Say adios to the days of faxing rosters and statistics as well as emailing StatCrew roster files. These items can be easily accessed or downloaded from your website. If your colleagues know this, everyone saves time. 5. Post-Game Priorities Update your site quickly and often. Send the game files to the visiting SID and post the box score on the web as soon as possible after a contest. Your peers, fans and media want news quickly. You'll be amazed at the positive feedback you'll receive. 6. Remote Access Unless you live within walking distance to your office, SIDs should not be expected to go back to work to retrieve scores and update web sites. We spend enough time at the office. Set up computer connection from your home to update your web site remotely. 7. PDF: The SID Friend Creating .pdf files are a known commodity for saving time in many ways. PDF files can be used as a way to export your publications for print. Additionally, computer users can read these files on your web site. 8. PDF: The SID Foe Some SIDs, however, are overusing PDF files. Many computer users don't know how to use PDFs and/or don't have the proper technology to use them. If I put a PDF file on our website, I also try to offer an alternative for the computer user. Most of the time this is either an .html web page or downloadable MS-Word file. One application, however, where exporting more than just .PDF is not recommended is with larger files--such as on-line media guides. 9. Get a Color Inkjet Printer While laser printers are the workhorses for SIDs, a color inkjet printer can be a valuable tool. Instead of having your printer do a cover proof, fire it off on your inkjet. Mine cost less than $50. Inkjet technology is great for short-run projects, such as laminated color media passes. Also, it's always good to have a backup printer. 10. Statistic Software A fair guess is that 40 percent of us would not stay in this field if not for statistic software. If you don't use them, get 'em. Use the "in game" versions and get the most updated versions. If you are new to the software, practice at road games or learn from one of your peers. 11. Cut, Copy and Paste Instead of writing one game story for the media and another for the web site, write one. Then, cut copy and paste into the website. Also, some savvy SIDs have a news release masthead on their web site. Just print the release off the site. This technique bypasses the use of a word processing or other software. 12. Try a Webcast A company called SportsJuice enables you to broadcast affordably on the Net. All you need is a computer, modem, Windows Media software and a phone line to send encoded output. For newbies, this beats running your own server and allows unlimited listeners at a reasonable cost. 13. Share Your Knowledge If you discover a technology tip, share it with your peers. Better yet, set aside time at your regional SID meeting or annual conference SID gathering for technology, computer or software topics. 14. Web Authoring: Think Lower Case Your web server may not have a problem differentiating upper from lower case letters. That may not, however, be the case tomorrow! We changed our operating system software a few years ago and it caused many problems. Name all your files in lower case letters and you won't have any trouble. 15. Remember Who we Are Technology allows us to communicate more quickly and efficiently. As SIDs, however, we shouldn't just hide behind our computer screens. We work in public relations and should place a high priority on our personal interaction with other SIDs, co-workers, the media, students, parents and fans. EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob Lowe, Greensboro College SID, serves as co-vice chairman of the CoSIDA Computer Committee.